The performance of ejection fraction as a predictor of mortality and morbidity in acute aluminium phosphide poisoning.

Abstract

Aluminium phosphide poison become an alarming, well-known, effective suicidal poison with a high mortality rate. There is a need for a simple tool that can triage patients with bad prognosis. The study aimed to assess the accuracy of ejection fraction as a predictor of mortality and morbidity in acute aluminium phosphide toxicity cases. The study involved 70 cases of acutely aluminium phosphide-poisoned patients in our hospital from January 2021 to January 2024. The study found that 54.3% of the cases were males and 45.7% were females, with a mean age of 22.4 ± 11.8 years old. The oral route was the route of administration of all cases, and the intention of poisoning was intentional in 84.3% of cases. Regarding the outcome of patients, 62.9% of the cases recovered, and 37.1% died. The Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve found that the ejection fraction below 37.5% had an accuracy rate of 96.8% with excellent discrimination for mortality, sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 93.2%, positive predictive value of 89.6%, and negative predictive value of 100%. The ejection fraction below 52.5% had an accuracy rate of 89% with good discrimination for complications, sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 96.8%, positive predictive value of 90.9%, and negative predictive value of 93.7%. So, the ejection fraction plays an essential tool in predicting mortality and complications in acute aluminium phosphide toxicity and should be assessed on every patient in the first 24 h of admission to facilitate the triage of these patients.